A.M. Executive Briefing - Oct. 20
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Swift Reports Lower 3Q Earnings
Swift Transportation Co. (), the third largest publicly held national truckload carrier in the United States, announced third-quarter earnings of 24 cents per share, just below 1999's third-quarter earnings of 29 cents.
The earnings were also just below the average analysts' estimate of 25 cents per share given by Zacks Investment Research.
The company also said its operating ratio for the period was 91%, a strong figure considering many in the industry currently operate at or near 100%.
Increased Mideast Tensions Drive Oil Prices Up
Crude oil prices rose again as more Israeli-Palestinian conflict brought back concerns that the ongoing tensions could disrupt oil supplies from the Middle East, Bloomberg reported Friday.U.S. crude went up as much as 58 cents to $33.49 per barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, while in London, Brent crude rose as much as 44 cents to $31.18 per barrel on the International Petroleum Exchange, the story said.
Separately, the U.S. government gave a rough outline Thursday of its plan for releasing heating oil from its two-million-barrel reserve in the Northeast, Bloomberg reported.
The U.S. Energy Department announced it would notify prospective bidders about a release of emergency heating oil within two of the president declaring a "severe fuel supply problem," and bids would then have to be submitted by noon the following day, the story said. Final details of the procedure will be announced early next month, according to the story. Transport Topics
Peterbilt Will Lay Off More in Nashville
After laying off about 1,200 workers in recent months, truck maker Peterbilt will let go an additional group of workers in Nashville, the Associated Press reports.An undisclosed number of employees will be laid off when production is cut back at that plant Oct. 30, the story said. A heavy slump in the North American truck market will have Peterbilt producing only 26 trucks per day by next month; they were producing 70 a day in March of this year, AP said. Transport Topics
SPR Release May Only Yield 250,000 Barrels of Heating Oil
The 30-million-barrel release of oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve may only yield an additional 250,000 barrels of heating oil for areas such as New England, which could easily run short in winter, the Wall Street Journal reports.Testifying before a House Commerce subcommittee, Acting Assistant Secretary of Energy Robert Kripowicz acknowledged that the government forecast of 3-5 million additional barrels of heating oil had been overly optimistic, the story said.
Kripowicz suggested that if diesel fuel refined from the SPR supplies were sent into the heating oil market, it could raise inventories to about 2.5 million barrels, the Journal said. Such a move would likely cause shortages of diesel and infuriate the trucking industry, which has already seen the price of that fuel skyrocket in the past year. Transport Topics
PNV, PTDI Form Alliance to Boost Driver Retention
PNV Inc. (), which offers communications, cable TV and Internet services to the trucking industry, announced Friday it has formed a strategic alliance with the Professional Truck Driver Institute (PTDI) aimed at improving driver retention rates in the industry.
PNV has developed a trial package of communications services to be offered free-of-charge to PTDI graduates, which includes a lifetime PNV membership card, six months of unlimited high-speed Internet access services, and six months of free telephone access from the drivers' trucks.
"PTDI's arrangement with PNV is the most creative way for schools and fleets to make the transition from non-driving life to over the road life a less dramatic experience," said PTDI General Counsel Robert Rothstein. Transport Topics
Daewoo Execs Turn Down Reappointments
South Korea's Daewoo Motor Co., currently in the grips of financial struggles, was hit with more bad news Friday as many of its vice presidents and other senior executives turned down reappointment offers from creditors, Bloomberg reported.The company's creditors have deferred providing Daewoo with additional working capital and the car maker's employees have not been paid since late September, the story said. Daewoo is trying to sell off assets in order to pay its massive debts. Transport Topics
Arizona May Put Moratorium on Alternative-Fuel Program
Arizona Gov. Jane Hull has called state legislators to a special session, beginning Friday, in hopes of putting the brakes on a runaway alternative-fuel program, several news agencies report.The program, aimed at reducing pollution in the state, offered incentives to residents who purchased vehicles using alternative, cleaner fuels, such as natural gas, propane or electricity, according to the Associated Press.
But many took advantage of the program; two manufacturers claim that alternative-fuel vendors and car dealers hiked prices to convert gasoline vehicles in an attempt to cash in on the incentive program, the Arizona Republic said
According to figures released Wednesday, the program will cost at least $420 million, about 7% of the state's $6 billion annual budget and far above the expected cost of $3-10 million, AP reported. Transport Topics
Headlines From Yesterday's P.M. Briefing
- Trism CEO, CFO Step Down
- Cooper Tire to Lay Off 1,100, Scale Back Operations
- Goodyear-Treadco Joint Venture Cleared by FTC
- Oil Prices Go Up As Inventories Reported Down
- Greenspan Watching Oil Prices
- Tower Auto's 3Q Earnings Fall
- Rail Intermodal Traffic Not a Record But Still Better Than 1999
- TCT Logistics Launches New Internet Offerings
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